ustxtxb_obs_1974_09_20_50_00016-00000_000.pdf

anyone wanted to revive the discredited unit rule. The black commissioners and a few whites walked out, and after staying long enough to reverse the proposal to reinstate the unit rule, the rest of the white reformers walked out, too. Strauss later issued a statement that the controversy concerned “regulatory matters for which there is little concern among 99 percent of the Democrats in this country.” He said on NBC that the real culprit is the media. He sounded like Nixon’s press flacks at the beginning of the Watergate fiasco. Post reporter David S. Broder gave the clue to the situation in a column: “Some of the older labor union staffers swarming around the charter commission meeting here compared the fight to their battle against the communists in the labor movement decades ago. In their minds, the opponents must be ‘purged,’ or they will subvert the organization.” So it’s a purge they want. They are so out of touch with the times they associate opponents of the Vietnam war and the arms race with communists. They got a taste of the war they were asking for on Aug. 18, and if Strauss continues his reactionary alliance with Barkan, they’ll get the rest of it in December. 16 The Texas Observer Rudolph the Reigndear To contribute to the euphoria now that Nixon’s choice to succeed himself, Gerald Ford, has become president, permit me to review a few of President Ford’s statements during the last few months. “In my judgment, President Nixon will continue in office.” Gerald Ford, May 10, 1974. The Watergate grand jury’s naming of Nixon as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Watergate cover-up was not “anything of a serious nature.” Gerald Ford, June 7, 1974, The House of Representatives will refuse If the DPS will go out of its way to establish intelligence files on citizens at odds with the state’s bureaucrats, to what use will it put the information it already has in its files? What better way to discredit or discourage a citizen’s participation in a cause unpopular with those in power than to reveal or threaten to reveal some past brush with the law? Just the knowledge that the DPS has a “criminal” file on a person and that persons outside law enforcement channels have access to the information may in itself be sufficient to deter a person from exercising the full rights of citizenship, including those guaranteed by the First Amendment. No one can seriously question the keeping by the DPS of records of adjudged felons and active criminals. But as matters now stand, the DPS, and local agencies as well, maintain and stand ready to disseminate forever records of mere arrests not leading to conviction and records of misdemeanor convictions in cases where the defendant’s debt to society was long since paid in full… DPS’ hundreds of thousands of criminal records files are presently available to the smallest and least disciplined police forces in the state. Hundreds, if not thousands, of police officers pick up extra cash running records checks for prospective employers, landlords, insurance and credit companies and private investigators. There are no safeguards . At least a dozen states have laws in one form or another sealing or expunging arrest and court records which have become stale with the passage of time or where the defendant was acquitted .. . Federal legislation is pending before Congress which will limit the keeping, access and dissemination of criminal justice information and thus help to protect citizen privacy. The DPS has proven it cannot be trusted to protect the freedoms of those it to impeach President Nixon because “there just isn’t any evidence.” Gerald Ford, June 15, 1974. “Any objective person” would conclude “that there was no involvement by the President and therefore he is innocent by any fair standard.” Gerald Ford, July 14, 1974. “I know of no cover-up.” Gerald Ford, July 17, 1974. As United Press International reported from Washington on Aug. 9, 1974, “To a nation weary and disillusioned from the Watergate ordeal, perhaps the strongest tonic that Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr., can offer is his unquestioned reputation for old-fashioned honesty.” R.D. IDialogue ostensibly seeks to serve. The Legislature and Senators Mauzy, Brooks et al. need to expand their inquiries at the next session of the Legislature from simply DPS intelligence gathering to the broader issues of the abuse of the information already on file. Bob Atwood, Rockport, Tex. 78382. Houston street corner newsracks in need of a little loving care and attention The Observer needs a friend in Houston who would be willing to attend to the newsrack route for a commission based on sales. The job involves making the rounds of the 17 racks every two weeks to stock the new issue and collect the money, plus occasional mechanical adjustments to the racks and, whenever appropriate, relocating some of the racks to more profitable corners. If you think you might be willing to help out, please call Ed Burton in Houston 523-6200 for additional information. DPS abuses